


Headfirst

by Cyranodebergerac



Category: Benedict Cumberbatch - Fandom, British Actor RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff, affair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 03:39:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5319029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyranodebergerac/pseuds/Cyranodebergerac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben sleeps with a married woman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Headfirst

**Author's Note:**

> First post on AO3. Please be kind. This fic was originally posted Tumblr at [Benedict Cumberbatch Frustration](http://bcsexualfrustrationblog.tumblr.com/). I don't know if this is finished or not yet. I wrote it in 2013.

He could get used to this.

Perhaps he already had.

She was sound asleep and turned away from him, the immaculate white sheets of his bed tangled around her legs. She was half-hugging a pillow to her chest, her left hand placed unconsciously in a beam of unseasonable sunshine that had snuck through a crack between his curtains. The light gleamed off of her wedding band in a way that he was almost familiar with at this point. The area of his chest beneath his left shoulder clenched; this too was a familiar sensation. He kissed her shoulder tenderly and brushed her hair out of her face. 

“Darling…,” he coaxed gently, “Wake up. You really should be going soon.”

It rather pained him to say it. He was content to let her sleep the day away in his bed, just to be in her presence, to be able to quietly appreciate the gentle rise and fall of her body as she slept. He could watch her sleep all day. If only he was so lucky.

She stretched languidly and rolled over and into him, curling into his chest, still mostly asleep.

“Do I have to?,” she said sullenly into his skin, her voice still thick with sleep. He had, after all, kept her up late last night.

He kissed her hair lovingly, caressing the soft skin of her neck as he spoke, “Absolutely not, darling. I would be delighted to have you here all day, all to myself.”

She made a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan before pressing her lips to the taunt skin across his collarbone.

“Ben,” she said quietly, still keeping herself tucked into his embrace, but he could sense the resignation in her tone, “He’ll be looking for me.”

He.

Her husband.

Of course He’d be looking for her. She was supposed to be spending the weekend with her sister. Instead she was here, in his bed. Where they had laid for most of the weekend, together. Happily. She made him feel so delightfully young and carefree. In her presence, nothing else mattered. Not even the fact that she was another man’s wife. Together, they were only them; only Benedict and Ellen.

She lifted herself partway out of the cocoon of his embrace and placed a tender kiss on his perfect mouth. He seized the opportunity to snake an arm around her waist and pull her flush against him, her bare body deliciously pressed into his. She whimpered into his mouth; the streak of possessiveness that overcame him right before she left always elicited a heady feeling in her. How easy it would be to simply hide away here, make love to this beautiful man everyday of her life. How could she want anything more? 

But she had made a commitment. She had said “I do” to another man. So that was not an option, not at this point in her life. She was far too young to be a divorcee. And her husband loved her; He was not often around to say it or show her, but He would send her expensive gifts while He was away and that had to count for something, didn’t it? He was a good man, kind-hearted and noble. Generous and forgiving… Most of the time, she hated herself for her infidelity. Her stomach churned when He kissed her after returning from a long business trip, not knowing she had just spent the past however many nights sleeping in another man’s arms.

It eased the guilt a small amount to know that Benedict wasn’t just any other man. He was magnificent in a myriad of ways – unconventionally handsome, and so gracious and humble despite being both incredibly intelligent and endlessly gifted. She felt so needed and cherished in his presence. It was no wonder why she kept coming back to him.

Ellen had married at the insistence of her parents. She had been 25 at the time and His father was a business colleague of her father. Her husband came from a wealthy family with investments, stocks, bonds, small businesses and property everywhere. He traveled frequently to manage all of these things. Initially, she tagged along with Him, but He always had dinners and meetings and eventually she had found that being in all these beautiful, exotic places – though very lovely – merely made her feel lonely and jetlagged after a time. Now He went on his trips alone, and was always accompanied by diamonds, designer bags, clothing and accessories upon his return to give to her. They had talked of children, but had never gotten around to trying, His schedule being what it was. Perhaps that was for the better, all things considered.

Benedict was in a mood – as he often was before she left him – reading at the dining room table, in full view of the front door where she stood. She was watching him as she slipped on her nude pumps; he seemed thoroughly absorbed, but she noted that his eyes remained fixed on one area of the page in front of him.

“I’ll be off now, Benedict,” she said, pulling on a pair of cashmere-lined leather gloves that complemented her beige and black cape coat and cloche hat. She looked very posh, looked every bit of a multi-millionaire mogul’s wife. Very different from the rosy cheeked, wide-eyed woman he had had writhing and panting beneath him only hours ago. He narrowed his eyes an almost imperceptible amount, turning to face her fully.

“So formal, Ellen,” he countered, “Or shall I call you Mrs. Mason?”

She sighed audibly. He didn’t understand and she didn’t fully expect him to. She had to have time to distance herself from him, not only physically, but emotionally as well. She had to steel herself for the time away from him and mentally prepare herself to see her husband. She simply couldn’t go from Ben’s embrace to her husband’s side without time to collect herself. If she didn’t take the time, she’d be feeling the ghost of Ben’s kisses on her lips and the warmth of his breath at the crook of her neck for hours to come. She bit her lip as she walked over to him.

“I’m sorry, my love,” she said quietly, coaxing him to stand and pressing a quick kiss to his lips, “I’ll see you soon.”

He seemed to melt and forget his displeasure as he took her hands into his.

“How soon?,” he asked, trying to quell the hopefulness bubbling up inside of his chest. He knew it would be a while.

“A few weeks,” she answered, cupping his cheek lovingly. He tilted his head into her soft hand before kissing her palm. She lead him over to the door.

“I’ll count the hours,” he replied in lieu of a farewell, only half joking. She smiled adoringly up at him.

 

“I love you, Ben,” she said.

It took a few moments for him to compose himself. She had never said those words to him before. It was all at once magnificent and overwhelming. His heart pounded in his rib cage. And before he knew it, she was gone.

Those three words, however, would be enough to sustain him for the weeks to come.

“I love you, Ellen,” he said to the space she had just vacated.


End file.
